Laurie Patterson, a technology integration specialist at Lakeview School in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, taught keyboarding for 12 years at Detroit Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
"I did formal keyboarding instruction in third grade; in fourth and fifth grade, students were expected to have their hands on home row keys with proper form when they typed any of their assignments," Patterson told Education World. "I did do a four-week review of keyboarding for the fourth graders, but beyond that, instructional time was not used for the skill and drill of learning the QWERTY layout of the keyboard. Instead, children were provided with meaningful activities to complete on the computer. This type of real-life practice and encouragement from teachers to use two hands helps children become competent typists.
"To me, it makes more sense to practice typing by actually typing reports, stories, poems, and so on," Patterson told Education World. "It's just like drilling math facts. You might teach addition facts in second grade and even drill them into the students each day. But by the time they get to third grade, you are no longer drilling students on addition facts. They are expected to know those facts and use them during math. The same is true for keyboarding. Students should learn the proper form (with drill) in third grade; they should be expected to be able to use those skills in fourth and fifth grade."
Starr, L. (2001). Teaching keyboarding – when? why? where? Education World. Retrieved on May 11, 2008, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml
1. Read your quote and determine what question about the great keyboarding debate it addresses
2. Restate the quote in your own words.
Students need to learn the basic skills of keyboarding and then be able to apply them by 4th grade and beyond.
3. Determine its implications for your students, you, your colleagues, and your district.
Students are lacking the basic keyboarding skills because they haven't had the instruction
4. What questions and/or concerns does this raise for you? What support and/or resources to you need to further your understanding or learnings about this topic?
Laurie Patterson, a technology integration specialist at Lakeview School in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, taught keyboarding for 12 years at Detroit Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
"I did formal keyboarding instruction in third grade; in fourth and fifth grade, students were expected to have their hands on home row keys with proper form when they typed any of their assignments," Patterson told Education World. "I did do a four-week review of keyboarding for the fourth graders, but beyond that, instructional time was not used for the skill and drill of learning the QWERTY layout of the keyboard. Instead, children were provided with meaningful activities to complete on the computer. This type of real-life practice and encouragement from teachers to use two hands helps children become competent typists.
"To me, it makes more sense to practice typing by actually typing reports, stories, poems, and so on," Patterson told Education World. "It's just like drilling math facts. You might teach addition facts in second grade and even drill them into the students each day. But by the time they get to third grade, you are no longer drilling students on addition facts. They are expected to know those facts and use them during math. The same is true for keyboarding. Students should learn the proper form (with drill) in third grade; they should be expected to be able to use those skills in fourth and fifth grade."
Starr, L. (2001). Teaching keyboarding – when? why? where? Education World. Retrieved on May 11, 2008, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech072.shtml
1. Read your quote and determine what question about the great keyboarding debate it addresses
2. Restate the quote in your own words.
Students need to learn the basic skills of keyboarding and then be able to apply them by 4th grade and beyond.
3. Determine its implications for your students, you, your colleagues, and your district.
Students are lacking the basic keyboarding skills because they haven't had the instruction
4. What questions and/or concerns does this raise for you? What support and/or resources to you need to further your understanding or learnings about this topic?